Indigenous Perspectives on the Co-management of a Regional Conservation Area in the Peruvian Amazon

Growing awareness of the critical role Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs) play in biodiversity conservation has underscored the need to shift conservation practices towards empowering IPLCs, supporting their land rights, traditional practices, and facilitating their political involvement. Despite IPLCs governing over 32% of global land, historically these communities have faced systemic marginalization and violence in the name of conservation. In response, international calls to action and policies have aimed to enhance IPLC participation in environmental governance through mechanisms like co-management. Adaptive Co-management (ACM) emerges as a promising approach, combining adaptive management's flexibility with co-management's collaborative principles. This study evaluates the ACM framework within the Maijuna-Kichwa Regional Conservation Area (MKRCA) in the Peruvian Amazon, established to protect the ancestral lands and biocultural resources of the Maijuna and Kichwa communities. Using a Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR)-informed approach, we conducted interviews with 36 community members to assess their perspectives on the MKRCA's co-management. Findings reveal significant improvements in resource abundance and community safety but also highlight issues with governmental support, communication, and equitable participation. Highly engaged participants voiced the strongest criticisms, underscoring how participation level shaped perceptions of governance. Recommendations were derived from participant perspectives but synthesized by the authors rather than fully co-developed. The study emphasizes the need for continuous evaluation and enhanced stakeholder engagement to optimize ACM's effectiveness, offering culturally responsive recommendations to strengthen the MKRCA's management and achieve its conservation objectives.